Italian cheesemaker was crushed by thousands of rounds of Grana Padano on Sunday in the ageing chamber of his facility in Bergamo, northern Italy, local authorities reported.
The autonomous robot was being used to clean the cheese rounds while they were being aged at the company’s warehouse, according to the Bergamo Carabinieri, who claim that 74-year-old Giacomo Chiapparini had entered the ageing room to check it out.
He was killed in one of about ten corridors that had 1,600 rounds and floor to ceiling shelves.
The original fall, which investigators refer to as starting a “domino effect” and killing the cheesemaker, is unknown.
The site was summoned to around 9 p.m. local time on Sunday (3 p.m. ET), according to Carabinieri officials, the fire brigade, two ambulance services, and other local authorities.
Chiapparini’s body wasn’t discovered under the cheese rounds for more than 11 hours.
According to the Carabinieri spokeswoman, his family, who reside in and work at the cheese business, was able to identify him. On Thursday, he will be laid to rest.
According to the company website, Chiapparini’s factory, which was established in the late 1970s, makes about 15,000 wheels of Grana Padano cheese annually using milk from cows kept on the property. Between 12 to 70 months are used to mature the cheese.